How to Save a life
by DeaththeKidSoCrazy
Summary: Venice is quiet. She keeps to herself and doesn't have friends. But when she is partnered with America and Russia for a project she finds herself falling for them both. How will she decide she feelings while combating with her social fears and the horrors of her past?
1. Prologue

_Thin streams of red oozed from the fresh lacerations on her wrists. The tears that streamed from the girls eyes were only just an involuntary reaction from the pain. She liked the pain. She liked that is made her feel real. She liked that it made what she feel on the inside become a physical pain she could deal with; that it pushed away the intangible emotions that swirled within her, even if it was for only a moment. It balanced her world. _

_ This girl slowly washed the knife she had used and placed it away carefully. She slowly cleaned the cuts on her wrist and held a layer of gauze to stop the bleeding. She then disposed of the bloody gauze, pulled her sleeves down over her wrists, and left for work. _


	2. Chapter 1: Partners!

_Chapter 1: Partners?!_

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_Hey everyone! Welcome to my new story! This will be a Hetalia love triangle with one of my OC's. I hope you enjoy! _

_3_

_Oh! I almost this story nears it's end YOU will be able to decide the outcome. I will let my readers vote on who my character ends up with! I love you all and happy reading :)_

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The alarm clock rang at 6:15 as it did each morning. Venice rose slowly, groggily rubbing the sleep from her eyes. _Another day has come,_ she thought solemnly.

She went to the mirror and surveyed the situation. He long, reddish brown hair was frizzed and knotted from sleeping and still wet in some places from her shower the previous night. Venice brushed through the knots, tied it carefully into two braids. She tried to smooth down the one strand of hair that always stuck out, but it, as usual, failed to follow her commands. Instead it just stuck out from her head, the end twisting into a heart like shape. Everyone in her family seemed to have that one fly away hair.

She then donned her school uniform. It was Maroon mostly. Her blazer was maroon with a matching plaid skirt. She buttoned up the white dress shirt, tied her tie, and slipped on her olive V-neck sweater. She finished the attire with dark knee high socks and Mary Jane's. She looked down at the school crest that resided on the breast of the blazer. _Hetalia High_ it read in gold letters underneath the globe, which was tinted maroon and gold to match the uniform. Personally, Venice thought the crest looked ridiculous, but who was she to comment?

Venice quick grabbed an apple before leaving the house and heading for school. She kept her head down, though if you watched you might have been able to see her eyes flit around nervously. As she entered the school building, Venice became even more reserved than she already was. Her arms were pulled in tight to her body and she clutched tightly to the textbook she held. She didn't talk to a single person, and arrived and left her locker without saying a word. This was Venice's usual behavior. She didn't speak unless spoken to; she didn't do anything without being asked. She didn't interact with any of the kids in her school. To be honest, she had no friends. She didn't need them she told herself. _They will only hurt you._

*page break*

English was one of her favorite classes. Mr. Moore was passionate about what he taught and made the class interesting. He focused much on writing style, which for Venice felt like a nice reprieve from the boring vocab and grammar lessons other teachers taught.

Venice entered the class just as silently as every day, and took her seat in the back of the class. The students were boisterous- half had just come from their lunch period while the other half eagerly awaited their lunch next period. But Mr. Moore never failed to settle them down.

"Hello class," He greeted as usual. Mr. Moore was a tall, fairly young man (maybe in his late thirty's). His hair was a light brown, and he had a short beard. He was a very well respected teacher.

"Now today," he began, "We will be starting a long term project. This will be completed over the course of a few weeks and will be done with partners."

Some students groaned, and some jumped excitedly. Venice, however, made no external reaction, but inside she screamed. There was nothing she hated more than partner assignments. She didn't like people or trust people. There were very few that had earner her trust and they were her mother and three of her cousins- Italy, Florence, and Rome. She did not want to work with people, but she just looked at the teacher waiting for him to proceed. Venice pulled her arms tight around her, hugging her body.

"Now don't get too eager. I have picked you partners," he said, bringing out whines of protest. Mr. Moore pretended not to hear and continued explaining. "You each have two partners and there will be a series of parts to complete, the final product being a narrative story written about something in each of your partners life, whether it be a person or a memory or whatever.

Mr. Moore picked up a clip board from his desk and began assigning groups. "Group one is Ludwig Beilschmidt, Mathew Williams, and Arthur Kirkland." Mr. Moore was the only teacher that insisted on calling his students by their human names, not their countries. He said it formed a closer bond between instructor and student.

He read off a few more groups, and then said, "Group five will be Alfred Jones, Ivan Braginski, and Gabriella Vargas."

Venice's ears perked up at the sound of her name. America and Russia. The loud noisy "hero" and the dark brooding commie. _This will be a blast… _

Mr. Moore read out the last of the names and told us to form our groups. A flurry of students moving and desks shifting took place. Venice stood, looking for her partners. She saw each of them making their way over to her, so she sat back down, silently thanking them. They each pulled a chair to her desk and turned to face the teacher.

"Your first task is just to get to know each other. Fill out this worksheet together. It just has some very basic questions on it." He handed out a white sheet to everyone and we began.

Venice read the questions to herself. _What is your partner's full name? How old is your partner? Does your partner have any brothers or sisters? What hobbies does your partner enjoy taking part in?_ And more questions like that.

"Ok…" America started quietly. "D'you wanna just go around?" I noticed he looked at me and not Russia when he spoke. I just shrugged and nodded a little, not making eye contact.

"Does that sound ok to you too?" America asked Russia with a small but noticeable bite to his voice.

The Russian smirk and said, "If Venice is ok with it, then so am I."

She noticed that the two boys had placed themselves as far away from the other as possible; one boy was on each side of Venice. It unnerved her a bit as they were a little too close for comfort, but she reminded herself it was only for a short while and then they would be done.

When the bell rang, Venice gathered her stuff and quickly left. She wanted to put distance between herself and her partners. The tensions has been high throughout the period. It was quite obvious that Russia and America did not like one another. The two shot menacing glares at one another every chance they got. But Venice almost preferred it that way. Less attention focused on her.

The rush to the lunchroom was at its peak as Venice merged with the crowed. She kept her head down, walking fast. Her eyes flitting back and forth, watching out for that person again. But she didn't see them, and when she knew the coast was clear she let out a small sigh of relief.

Lunch was consumed in silence. Venice did some homework as she ate. She needed to finish as much as possible before work. Since it was Friday afternoon she wouldn't get much break time to do any. The restaurant was sure to be busy. And from work she'd go straight to the hospital to see her mom.

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The rest of the school day passed uneventfully. The final bell rang and she raced to her locker, determined not to bump into _her_. She grabbed her stuff, slammed her locker closed and raced form the school. She latched onto the thought that maybe she could beat him. Maybe she wouldn't be there for once.

She raced down the school path, and once she thought she was safe, she heard the voice. The voice that shattered all her happy thoughts.

"Where do you think you're going, _Venice?_" the voice spit her name out menacingly.

She spun around and faced her tormentor. Sinem Atmaca - AKA Turkey- stood watching Venice. Her spiteful eyes glared ferociously from behind the white mask she always donned. Turkey was a very beautiful girl. Her skin was dark, and hair short. She was a junior while Venice was a sophomore. But for all her looks she was conceited and a bully. Turkey not only picked on Venice but another girl named Greece. The difference, though, between Venice and Greece was that Greece fought back.

She approached Venice slowly, an evil smirk on her face. "I said," Turkey spoke, "Where do you think you're going?" She had gotten very close, towering over Venice. Venice shook slightly in fear.

When Venice didn't respond, Turkey shoved her hard. The younger girl tripped and stumbled backwards, eventually falling on her behind. She winced from the pain, but didn't take her eyes from her coercer. Turkey bent down low, putting her face close to Venice's.

"I will destroy you," she whispered threateningly. "I will destroy you like I did your friend. What was his name again?" Turkey stood up and feigned a confused look. "_Constantinople, was it?" _

Venice scrambled to her feet and ran. She heard horrible laughter coming from the older girl. Hot tears began to stream down her face and she didn't stop running once until she was home.

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Venice collapsed against the first chair in her house, desperately trying to stop crying. The mention of her old friend always set her off. She has never really gotten over his death.

The distressed girl began desperately scratching at her wrists, unbuttoning the sleeved of her white shirt. She stood and went to the bathroom, pulling open one of the drawers. She took out a small knife wrapped in cloth. The removed the fabric and put the blade against her skin. It was cold, and made it hurt a little more. She made a shallow cut across her left wrist, drawing out little dots of blood. She bit her tongue at the pain. Venice put down the knife and held her wrist. A small stream of blood dripped down the side of her arm. The anger and despair seemed to drain from her with each drip of blood that landed in the sink. She looked at her wrists. Many dark scars lined their surfaces. Scars left behind from the past two years of torment.

Venice stopped thinking about it, not wanting to remember the horrible times. She cleaned off the blade, replaced it in the drawer, and cleaned her wrist. She put two butterfly Band-Aids over the cut but otherwise left it.

Exiting the bathroom, Venice's face was blank. She silently changed for work and left as though nothing odd has taken place.

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_That's chapter one! Did you like it? Sorry that it was mostly just plot set up. It should start getting better next chapter. I'd love to hear your feed back! Love you guys! ^^_


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